The Playlist: May 16, 2014

5 Songs You Need To Know About Right Now

Every Friday, we highlight the best (and, sometimes, worst) new music of the week in The Playlist. This week, M.I.A. debut's her version of Beyoncé's "Flawless," Vic Mensa melds dance and hip-hop, and new Courtney Love.

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"Baddygirl 2" by M.I.A. (Beyoncé Flawless Remix)

After not hearing back from Beyoncé's management about her remix, M.I.A. took to Twitter to debut her version of B’s “Flawless,” mixing in a bit of “Diva” and delivering a clattering anthem that is all too brief. Perhaps Yoncé wasn’t too pleased to have her voice relegated to the track’s final minute, but when the drops are this sweet, she really shouldn’t have any grounds to complain.

"Down on My Luck" by Vic Mensa

Maybe he’s got his finger on the pulse, or maybe his tourmates, Disclosure, have just indoctrinated him, but Vic Mensa’s latest track sounds like all kinds of awesome house music. Sporting some classy Inner City synths and samples, this incoming XXL Freshman perfectly melds dance music and hip-hop in a way that Drake would do well to emulate. The great Groundhog Day-style video, meanwhile, was filmed at 285 Kent in Williamsburg and directed by Ben Dickinson.

"No Rest for the Wicked" by Lykke Li (Klangkarussell Remix)

Though the track Lykke leaked this week was her exclusive from the Fault in Our Stars soundtrack, “No One Ever Loved,” I’m still listening to this great remix of the super-sad highlight off her super-sad new album, I Never Learn. With just an added beat and a slight change in pace, the torch song may now be less plaintive, but it’s certainly no less powerful. It’s still the perfect soundtrack for your self-pity party, but now it’s no longer necessarily just for a party of one.

"Every Time the Sun Comes Up" by Sharon Van Etten

It’s my own fault for underestimating Van Etten, but her new record, Are We There, is just so stunning I can’t believe it took me by surprise. But then her music has a way of sneaking up on you, with her voice like honeyed Cat Power and her orchestration deceptively natural. This song, the album’s closer, is the highlight, and the slightly corny video transposes the lyrics onto the filming of a schlocky vampire show.

"You Know My Name" by Courtney Love

It’s hard to imagine just what we would do without Courtney Love, without that persona that is just as punk as it is glam. And where would we be without that mighty roar? There is just no one like her in contemporary rock music (only early PJ Harvey could be seen as her peer) and it’s great that, despite the hits her reputation has taken, she can still outwrite most rockers when it comes to tightly wound screamers that clock in under three minutes.